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Car and Driver announces 2010 10Best Cars

Our pals over at Car and Driver, now helmed by our esteemable buddy Eddie Alterman, just released their 2010 10Best Cars. Quite an undertaking. As they put it, "58 contenders. $2.5 million total. 12,000 test miles logged." For those keeping track, this is the 28th time C/D has published their 10Best. Surprises this year? No not really. The BMW 3 Series continues its unabated drive of dominance to 10Best history with an impressive, will-probably-never-be-duplicated 19th straight win. Not to be too outdone, the Honda Accord also makes the cut for a 24th time, though not consecutive.
Also note that while the Audi S4 makes the grade, the run-of-the-mill (so to speak) A4 does not. We're also pleased to see the Ford Fusion Hybrid getting its just dues (again, it's interesting that the gas-only version doesn't). And of course, you've got your yearly appearance by the Mazda Miata MX-5, Porsche Boxster / Cayman and Volkswagen GTI. Falling off the list this year? The Chevrolet Corvette, Infiniti G37, and the Jaguar XF.

Would we have done things much differently? Probably not much, though we must admit we were pulling for the highly impressive Suzuki Kizashi to make its debut and we're a bit surprised to not see one of the new crop of pony cars on the list. Maybe next year. Alphabetical list of winners after the jump.

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Anonymous

The car magazine lists are a compilation of opinions. As opinions are typically subjective in nature, these opinions are as relevant as the writers.

Consumer Reports on the other hand, does attempt to quantify car experiences. They tend to focus more on the engineering qualities of the vehicleâs design and less on the âappealâ factor.

This is why Japanese car companies typically do well in Consumer Reports because their management relies on engineers to help determine what goes into a vehicle. The domestics typically do poorly here because their management relies more on accounting with very little engineering input. Premium German car companies have mixed reviews â while they still rely heavily on engineering input, their marketing teams push for newer technologies that are not necessarily mature for the automotive space. This leads to higher than normal warranty hits. Conventional German car brands reflect more on world markets and are engineered more with fuel economy, smaller size and performance as key milestones.

Disclaimer- Itâs really tough to refer to any one car company as âdomesticâ anymore as Ford, GM and Chrysler all have pushed to have their labor and engineering to move offshore while the âforeignâ car companies have pushed to move their labor and engineering here to the US.

When you factor in vehicle content- these car companies are little more than assemblers as the only real content they provide are engines, drivetrains and sheetmetal. Everything else that is bolted on the vehicle is designed, engineered by suppliers who provide content to all the car companies in the world. These suppliers rely on world labor markets, so a part designed in the US may be manufactured in China and to be sold in Japan for a drivetrain assembly thatâs shipped for a car thatâs assembled in Germany.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

I thought I would add an actual fact, to your diatribe.

Ford manufacturers 93% of the vehicles it sells in the US, in the US. This makes it the most "Domestic" of all manufacturers.

Just because you make a nice long post, that uses grammer and spelling, does not mean that it is correct. Just as we make fun of "journalists" for not checking their facts............ I will say this: Check your "facts." Otherwise, your post is just a compilation of words.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

I truly dislike Toyota for eradicating everything sport or sporty (for now) and convincing the world to purchase the most bland and boring conveyances. That being said the 2010 Prius belongs on this list. I'd replace the Accord, which my maverick prediction says will be replaced by a Buick anyway as it continues to U.S.S. Enterprise size. I can't wait until the FT-86 is release and then the Subaru version so I can look at it without upchucking. Where are the small, rwd, coupes other then the baby in the dumpster Pontiac Solstice Coupe? My ideal car is a resurrection of the BMW Z3 Coupe with a turbo direct-injection (gas or diesel). Insane I know, but the crazies have more fun.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

Does anyone even consider these 10Best, Car of the Year, Automobile of the Year, etc when deciding what car to buy? Even uneducated consumers are more likely to choose based on brand, styling preferences, and cost. They are the opinons of a bunch of writers and nothing more. While their opinions might have merit based on the volume of cars they drive in a given year, they remain just opinions. They are not a good substitute for going out and doing a few test drives of your own.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

@Lar7789789

the Corvette does it's job very well as a cheap performance car. if there were a bang/buck category maybe the Vette would win. but i doubt the Corvette would win any "best car ever" awards , except maybe in the US.

Anonymous

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

@Lar7789789

Corvette is not cheap, not a bargain anymore. At ~50k base (~60k well equipped), it can now be judged against other 50k cars, and imo it loses to most of them as a bang/buck value. The only virtue it has is its engine, everything else in it is pure mediocrity (at best). Cars like Porsche Cayman, Audi TTS/S5, BMW Z4/M3, E550/SLK AMG, even 370Z etc pretty much get very close to or match its performance yet offer a generous amount of style, interior quality, comfort and features. Chevrolet lost the touch with reality as of now. They need to bring Corvette price back to low 40s to become competitive again.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

@Lar7789789

Nuieve,

Basically nothing you mentioned matches the Vette's performance...The M3 is closest in a straight line, but don't let that base price fool you, you'd be lucky to get seats in an M3 for the price of a Corvette with all the desirable options(about $55k). Everything else just isn't comparable as far as outright performance goes.

However it is true it could use a serious chassis refresh and some upgrades, the design is aging

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

Their list is tired as always. Half the cars on the list, I wouldn't even own. And if the corvette goes, then so needs to be the Accord. Its simply not the best family Sedan anymore. It is shocking they put the fusion on there. It shows they are really impressed with the fuel economy otherwise it drives like the regular fusion 4cyl. And overall I believe caranddriver needs come better than this. Nowadays they aren't worth paying attention to.

Anonymous

5 Years Ago

@ luis IMO everything except Camry and the Galant. I test drove the Accord and it didn't sit right with me. The car is noisy as in road noise, the engine isn't smooth and the interior is too busy with the all the mess of buttons in the center stack. And my tester has a sticking door handle on the driver's side, and overall the car is oversized making it feel like I am driving a town car, though the handling was on point and the seats are comfortable. So far my choices are narrowed down to fusion, altima, malibu, optima. So far they drive great, the styling is more attractive and the ergonomics are straight forward.